Updates ...

about .. well , everything!

WORKING FROM HOME:
I stared to work from home the day after my training.  It was a strange transition and I had computer problems all day.  My internet would be fine for aoout 2 hours and then I would get kicked off and not be able to reconnect sometimes for an hour!.  All that off time has to be paid back and I was a nervous wreck!  I cried once and when I finally took some time for lunch, I took a hot bath trying to calm myself down! 

Well after many calls to my help desk and the pnone company, early this week a major defect was discovered in our phone lines and now everthing is great.  I love this!  I was spending roughly 3 hours a day driving back and forth to work.  Now I get a full nights sleep!  I watch Joseph Prince every morning.  I pray and just feel so much better.  If all that was not enough, Don is still on treatment for Hepatitis C.  There were so many days where he was really sick and when I left to go to work, I wondered if I should have stayed at home with him.  Now that is just not an issue... which brings me to my next Update:

DON'S HEPATITIS C TREATMENT:
Don has a bit less than 8 weeks left for his Hepatitis C treatment.  This year seems to have really dragged on a lot slower than the first time he took the year long treatment.  With the addition of the new drug added to the cocktail (Incevic) his side effects during the first 3 months were .. well just horrid.  He only had to take the Incevic for 3 months.  His Hep count has been undetectable since his 1 month check up.. which is outstanding to quote his doctor!  Still though, since your blood is in every area of your body, he had to continue the treatment for the full year. 

Now, he is lathargic, have extremely depressed White, Red and Platelet counts... Platelets went all the way down to 27,000 (normal is 140,000 to 400,000)  which is the lowest ever recorded for him and they did take him off of treatment for 1 week...BUT, Glory Be - we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!  He sleeps seemingly 18-20 hours a day and when he is not sleeping, he has little energy to do much.  I am thrilled to say that when this is all over, normalcy should return!~ 

He will have doctors appointments after the treatment obviously, but it is the one at the 6 month mark that we anxiuosly await.  At 6 months with a undetectable Hepatitis C count, he is deemed completely healed.  His cirrhosised liver at that point could even improve in both function and texture.  We have our eyes set on the prize... and that is it!  

RIDING ASIDE:
I think most of you who read this blog, also go over to the Riding Aside blog.  If not, here is a short quip about that.  When Don started his treatment, we decided that we would do anything possible to keep me very involved with the horses.  Many marrriages fail when one partner has to go through Hep. C treatments.  It is not only physically demanding, but also emotionally.  It is MANDATORY that the patients take anti-depressants during treatment. 

With my training, it gives me 1 day a week and an occasional horse show that takes me away from the world of doctors, diagnosis, injections and such.  Also, since I am quite a physical person, at this time when my husband cannot accompany me in many physical venues, this and taking Zumba classes has solved my restlessness.

I have now taught 3 of my own horses how to work in a sidesaddle and 2 horses that reside at Bluebommet Farm.  This is my passion ~ given to my by God!!  I am working towards showing Sport, my 5 gaited Saddlebred in the World Championship horse show in August 2013.  This event, whether I place or not, will make a pin point in history as there is (so far) no record of a woman who has ridden sidesaddle in the 5 gaited classes at the American Saddlebred World Championship show!

ME PERSONALLY:
Zumba
Like I mentioned above, I started to take Zumba exercise classes with my youngest daughter Joy.  I LOVE it!!  I now do it twice a week and would love to find another class so I can up that to 3X a week.  I will say however, I went to a class at another location recently and it was not very fun at all.  It really depends on who the teacher is!

Weight Loss
My initial motive for taking Zumba was to continue to lose the 15 pounds I had gained since my hysterectory.  One of my girl friends introduced me to the Dukan diet and when I read about it, I knew it was something I could stick with.  That is where my weight loss journey began.  I weighed in at 140 when I started and now weigh 131.  6 more pounds to go!  I lost about 5 pounds and then kind of plateaued.. until I started this class.  Then the weight started coming off again. 

Hormones
I am still taking the bio-identical hormones, via cream on my forearms 2 X a day.  It is wonderful in the aspect that it stopped the muscle deterioration (sign of internal muscle deterioration is peeing when you sneeze hard or cough!), stopped the hot flashes and night sweats and Don says I am nicer!  ha ha.. I'll trust him on that one.  I sleep better and although my sex drive has not returned to 100%.. well - at least I have one now!

On the down side, I forget to use it even though I keep it in my bedside table!  I have heard about getting an implant that would deliver the hormones at a more consistent rate.  I have not looked into that yet. E-mail me if you want more information about this.  It is hell to suffer with menapause symptoms!  juliesize at yahoo 

THE FARM:
Chickens
Last year we sadly had a masacure of our chickens.  All but 1 were killed.  It is so tempting to let them out to free range, which is what we were doing, that on one of those occasions a predator came in.  It was sad.  We brought the one lone hen into the barn to live until we were ready to introduce her to some new baby chicks we purchased .. get this ... through the mail!  We ordered 20 pullots (sp??) baby girl chicks.  The reason we ordered 20 was because we did not think 20 would survive shipping.. but they did.  We now have 10 Barred Rock hens and 10 Columbian Rock hens that are just now starting to lay.... OH MY GOSH - what are we going to do with all these eggs when they start laying in full force!  I love eggs and because I only eat egg whites, I do go through quite a few of them on my own... but up to 20 a day???  Going to have to hang a sign outside that says Eggs For Sale!                      

Horses
The only real new horse news is that we sent Brittany (Sport's Mother) back to Stoney (Sport's Father) to be bred.  It was a last minute decision, but because the stallion owner was here and offered to haul her back for free as a part of the deal, we sent her to Tennessee.  Nothing happening yet.. but hopefully they can tease her into heat one last time this season and we can get a full sibling to the best horse I have ever ever ever bred!

Sheep
We had 3 baby sheep this year...and 2 were a set of twins!  Twin sheep are not normally rare for sheep.. unless you are talking about the breed we have, so it was a big exciting deal for us!  On the down side, every one of our babies was a ram lamb.  We need all ewe lambs next year to make up for this year!

THE FARM:
Close to our heart is the development of this farm.  We replaced much of our wood fencing with black improved PVC type fencing and it is just beautiful!  We put in an additional outdoor arena and left a large open area for a covered riding arena.  We rean electricity to the back of the farm which cost a pretty penny that we were not expecting and planted lots of Red Shummard Oak trees down what will be the road to the back.  Still to go is the actual road, a well and to continue on with the house plans.  Not sure if the house will proceed the riding arena or the other way around.  I do dream of opening up a Sidesaddle Riding School for girls calls ... can you guess... Riding Aside!  But then again, I so want a real home.  I love our barn-house, but envisioned it only as a transition point into a home large enough for my family to be comfortable in when they come to visit. 

Ahh - I will just do my best not to get into the way of any blessings that the Lord has for us and it shall all come to pass!!! 

**I know this is a lot to read.. but I have seriously neglected this blog.  Maybe now that things are settling down with my work, other things will start to line up as well!  

Bio-Identical Hormone Cream

So I have been using the B-I H creams for almost a week now and have experienced 1 change. I sleep so much better. The Pharmacyst told me it would take up to 2 months for these drugs to get saturated into my system...but I know for a fact it has influenced my sleep pattern for the better.

Now - I am still dealing with night sweats, hot flashes, tender breasts, and a host of other problems...but to wake up in the morning feeling fully refreshed is a really BIG plus!

I will keep you posted!

Bio-Identical Hormones

Today I picked up my bio-identical hormones. Here they are!
I had to laugh when I saw them..but this is how you get them. Each 'baggie' holds a different hormone cream filled set of syringes. Obviously I have 4 different kinds. Some I used once a day and others I use 2 times. I rub the prescribed amount on my arms between my wrist and my elbows, careful not to get the cream on my hands. This is something that I do NOT want to transfer to anyone else, especially Don.

The large white tube is medication that is applied vaginally. It will be used daily for only 2 weeks and then reduced. I have learned so much through this research. Did you know that if you have a testosterone deficiency, you not only have a low sex drive.. but you are probably losing muscle and bone at an alarming rate? I noticed over the past 2 years, simple farm chores have become very difficult for me. A 50 pound bag of feed feels like it weighs 100. I have lost so much muscle tone. I no longer have the definition on my arms, although I do the exact same chores I always have. I also have gained 4 inches in the waist and while I have gained a few pounds, it is no where near the amount that would add 4 inches to your waist! It is responsible for other things too, such as endurance, bone loss and memory.

The pharmacy I am working with made these medications specifically for me using the details of the saliva test I took. The pharmacist told me that while we are starting out slow, I should feel a difference within 2 months and as we go, the medications can be 'tweaked' according to what I experience.

I was thrilled at the cost. I was expecting to have to pay 200 - 300 dollars for custom made medication which my insurance does not pay for. It was only $129.00. That I can manage, especially if it makes me feel better and stops these dag blasted hot flashes!!!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Got The Results Back..

..from my saliva test and as I had guessed.. my hormone balance is ... well... NOT BALANCED! The pharmacy called yesterday afternoon and I returned their call this morning only to find out that the ONE pharmacist that does the custom bi-identical hormone prescriptions is...

.... on vacation

...until after Labor Day....




..retreating to corner to cry now..

Suffering..

Over 2 years ago I had to have a hysterectomy. Since I am adopted and do not have any medical history at all, I opted to get a full hysterectomy, which means that I no longer have ovaries. At the time, it sounded like the best solution for me.

10 days after my operation, I was crying my eyes out and MISERABLE! The doctor prescribed a synthetic hormone for me, something I wanted because I object to the way the mares are treated to make Premarin. The synthetic drug did not work. Several weeks later, I gave in and filled a prescription of Premarin. It did not work either. Months went by.. and then it rolled into 2 years. I had so much going on in my life with my Fathers illness and then his death and my husbands illness, I just kept using the excuse 'not enough time' to activily try and find a real solution to my problem. I did try every product I could find over the counter and NOTHING seemed to really help me get to where I felt normal again. I started to believe that I was just going to have to wait it out.

Thankfully, the crying episodes stopped within the first month. Others SYMPTOMS persisted and new ones reared their ugly head. Hot flashes so bad they threw me into a panic if I was not in a place where I could immediately shed some clothes, night sweats so bad that I have absolutely RUINED the beautiful bed our daughter bought for us as a Christmas gift. Although I have managed to maintain my weight, my waist is 2+ inches larger than it was and my muscle tone is GONE! ..AND WHAT SEX DRIVE?? ..and there you have the final blow. Because of my husbands health issues, he feels good sometimes and bad other times. When he feels good though, I want to be 'ready to go' (for lack of a better way of saying it!). You get my drift...

So, yesterday a lady I work with told me about a small pharmacy that works with more holistic methods. They test you and create a 'cocktail' of sorts that works for what you are having problems with. I went directly over there after I got off of work.

After talking to the whole pharmacy staff (they were laughing at my symptom descriptions) and asking for their help, they gave me this:

It is a saliva test kit that I used and sent into the lab just today. The kit was free but I had to send the lab $150.00 when I mailed in my sample. By 'sample' I mean that I had to spit in a test tube until it was 1/2 full right after I awoke this morning. This test will tell exactly where my hormone level are and once again, I am going to try and get my body straightened out! I will let you know how it goes.....

Has anyone else done this? If you don't want to post something on my blog, you are welcome to e-mail me at juliesize at yahoo dot com